I gave this 3.5 stars

This was a fun read and a lot happens, so much in fact that it felt too rushed to meet its full potential.

Trying to fit this much adventure into less than 300 pages is doing this story a disservice. I was looking forward to picking it back up to see where Klara took us, but the descriptions would often fall short and I didn't know where we were headed or why.
Too often, there was a lot of dialogue that was mashed together, so I couldn't tell who was saying what, I'd have to pause and re-read a few times. I also wanted more internal dialogue for the characters, as it was all from Klara's POV but it came across as shallow and she spoke everything aloud it seems.
Internal dialogue helps me connect with characters and care about their fates.

I loved the premise and the story was absolutely an interesting one. I loved the references to Mythology, the fantasy elements and I was really intrigued by the characters from Hell, especially Lucifer.
We also got to see a different side of Fae, which was fantastic.

The story itself was fun, intriguing and I wanted to read it, which is what brings me back for more. I wanted more detail and I hoped for a deeper understanding of the magic system, relationships and Klara's plans.

The author shows great promise with her storytelling and imagination, I would absolutely read a sequel to this or other works by her.

"Crowned A Traitor" by Kate Callaghan tells tale of Klara Lucifer, Daughter of Lucifer himself, King of the Underworld. It's Klara's carefully laid out destiny to one day lead the Dark Forest of Malum; home to creatures of all kind, and some day take over Hell. But Klara has never wanted that life. What she wants is to escape to the Fae lands and live a simple life. Despite not even wanting the throne there's still a target on her back put there by her heritage and by the Queens of Malum who have raised her. Abadan, Eve, and Lilith are her fathers followers but 2 of them seek the thrones for themselves and their heirs. Now Klara must chose between what she wants and what she's been trying to run from her whole life.

I gave "Crowned A Traitor" 3 stars. I did enjoy it over all and would read the second book. However, The pacing was quite slow and I had a difficult time figuring out what the purpose of the story was. I liked Klara but did feel like she was a little whiny. I get not enjoying her whole life being controlled by others but she could have been a little more grateful. I loved Lottie and would love to see more of her in a second book. The ending was not my favorite but it did leave me wanting to continue with the story. I'd like to see how Klara progresses and maybe see a little more of her and Frendall's relationship.

Crowned A Traitor is one of the most unique books I have ever read. It was a very enjoyable and interesting read. The plot, world building, and characters were my favorite part and loved seeing their growth throughout the story. Kate Callaghan was able to create a gripping story based around Klara, Lucifer's heir, and the world of Hell. I never knew what was going to happen next and the ending was the perfect way to wrap up the book. Would definitely recommend!

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley. In turn, I am leaving my honest review.

I was excited by the synopsis of the book. Unfortunately, the book didn't live up to its promise

Rather than rehash the plot, I will go directly into my opinion

The book needs editing, grammatically and otherwise. It needs fine tuning.

The author's premise is interesting but the mish mash of folklore, fairytale, fantasy, etc. detracted from the plot.

Although I didn't enjoy this book, I urge the author to continue writing as she shows promise

A captivating, magical fairy tale. From the first line of this book I was hooked. This dark fairy tale had all the magical creatures and a little bit of a love story. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for part 2.

I fell in love with the book cover of Crowned a Traitor and even more so the synopsis.
The daughter of Hell and the Dark Forest, going on a perilous journey with a Leprechaun smuggler, a warlock, sibling wolves and a demon. Whats not to love about that? Unfortunately however, I could not finish this story and I truly regret it as I love dark, twisted tales and Crowned A Traitor seemed to tick all my boxes. What kept tripping me up was the grammar and sentence structuring. Far too many sentences started with "Klara...." and the beginning had a rather onslaught of information thrown out.
I'm not blind to the many, many five star reviews CaT has received and I am very regretful I couldn't focus on the plot line Callaghan has spun. I believe with the help of an editor and some adjustments to the paragraph and sentence structuring, Crowned A Traitor will be an amazingly unique, and fantastical world I'd love to visit again.

Unfortunately this book just didn't do it for me - however with a run past an editor to review the flow and work the story up a bit more I'd be willing to give it another go. The author has some very exciting ideas and I would definitely be keen to give their future books a try as the writing and style develops.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book.

It was a bit hard to follow at first because more and more creatures kept getting introduced (and not all of them were important to the story) but I eventually got the hang of it.

There were some spelling errors and I thought it was just me but then they appeared in a few more places...it's not too noticeable though.

My favourite part of the story was Klara, Wolfgang, Lottie and Arthur travelling together. It was really exciting and I liked having all my favourite characters bonding with each other.

The ending had some twists that I wasn't expecting and I'm already experiencing trust issues. Not sure how to word this so it's not a spoiler but - I loved Wolfgang...when he was Wolfgang (now you'll have to read to see what I mean muahahaha).

The author is very creative which is something I appreciate. Speaking of, can we talk about Mila for a second? In my language her name means sweet/nice (it's even a part of my own name which means sweet/nice girl) and she was anything but. That was totally done on purpose, right?

The book is also pretty short and a quick read. I would recommend it.

*Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I really enjoyed this book! It’s not what I was expecting but the cover and the title really drew me in. While I wasn’t massively blown away, I still found it a fast and enjoyable read!

I have requested a copy of this book via netgalley. (Thank you) All thought and opinions shared are honest and mine.

Spoiler free review

I liked reading Crowned traitor. I think it was an enjoyable read. It was a interesting read. My attention was grabbed during the first chapter which is a good thing for me. I was quite fond of the characters and plot. Going into reading Crowned a traitor I didn’t really know what to expect when I started reading this. I did like what I read. Of course there were a couple things in the book that wasn’t to my favor. Overall I liked crowned a traitor.

“Hell corrupts everything, me not being here is probably what has kept you alive.”

-Synopsis-
Crowned a traitor is about Klara she is the daughter and heir to Lucifer. Klara really doesn’t want to rule. Klara wants to escape and live in peace in order to, she must fight her way and go on a journey to get there. She faces many obstacles through her path. Klara relies on some Lycaons and so on to help her escape. It really is an adventure.

“Enjoying the struggle?” “Go to Hell.” “Already here.”

-Plot-
The plot in Crowned a traitor was covered above in my synopsis I will be sharing thoughts on it here. The plot was what really drew me into this book. It did not disappoint! I really loved the plot. I thought it was very well thought of. I will admit that during somewhere at the middle of the book, I was confused on what was going on. It was still very interesting and shared a lot of details to make me understand again. Plot: 5/5

“Sometimes it's better to be feared than loved.”

-Setting-
The world building in Crowned a traitor was real good. It was described very vividly and I could real imagine myself there. Very descriptive which is good. Usually in my reviews I don’t include much to my setting category but I loved the setting in Crowned a traitor that I had to include it. Setting: 4.5/5

“I’m not afraid, Frendall. I’m tired. I want to live without carrying a weapon or checking food for poison.”

-Writing-
I love Kates writing style. It was highly descriptive and I absolutely was sucked into the book. I liked the pace of Crowned a traitor for me it was a quick detailed read.
Like I said previously I was a bit confused but then I did get around to understanding what was happening. Writing: 4/5

“I don’t want a life of death and cruelty.” “You’re being…” Frendall stopped himself. “Selfish? Call me my Father’s daughter. I want to lay on the fields of Kalos and never hear the screams of Hell again or walk the paths of Malum and see starving children.”

-Characters-
The characters in Crowned a traitor might be my favorite part of the book. I really love Klara. There was just something about her character I practically adored. Klaras probably my favorite character of the book. I liked Frendall but I do have mixed feelings about him. I did also like all the other characters such as Lottie, and Wolfgang. Characters: 5/5

“I might not have a heart, but I still have my dignity,”

-Conclusion-
Do I think you should read this book? Yess! I’d definitely recommend this. Overall I really liked this book. I loved all the bits and pieces of it. There are many great things about Crowned a traitor. Definitely think about reading this book

I wish I did not have to give a star rating to this book, in order to encourage an independent author, but alas.

However, I have to say that this book needed a few more rounds of proofreading and editing before being published. Firstly, I think the plot needed a couple more hundred pages to be fully developed. The worldbuilding was severely lacking; I needed more explanations for why what was happening in the world were happening. Additionally, I think relationships in the book needed more development to explain why we needed to care about the characters Klara, the main character, cared for. Lastly, the ending felt too rushed. I feel like a lot of things came out of nowhere and I was really confused - this partly comes from the lack of explanation of the magic system paired with things being told to readers and not shown. I do believe that the author had something going in this book, and the additional 200 to even 300 pages would have really fleshed out the problems I had with the book. As it is a series, I really hope these issues I had with the book will be further explained!

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the review copy)

This book didn't work for me, and that's fine, but I feel like this author has a lot of potential and I'd be interested in reading more of her work as she becomes a more seasoned writer!

As such, I don't feel comfortable with my review bringing down the average on this book, so I'll be leaving the star rating blank, though I'd give it a 1.5-2/5

Klara is the daughter of Lucifer and the heir to the dark forest of Malum. This has placed a price on her head and she has to flee to Kalos to stay alive, but it's not easy to escape destiny.

The plot has a LOT of potential, honestly. You can tell the author is creative and not running short on ideas and ways to twist aspects of fiction we know in a new way. Twisted fairytales are so full of possibility, and I think this series is a great idea.

What didn't work for me is the writing. The way information is introduced feels too rushed and anticlimactic, and the formatting of the PDF didn't help much (I don't hold this against the book, just adding that the netgalley PDF added to the issue a bit). It felt like a lot of telling instead of showing, and ultimately I didn't mesh with it.

I'm aware that all authors start somewhere, and even my favorite author's first books have disappointed me. I would love to pick up a future book by this author and love it, so I'll keep her on my radar!

dnf at 40%

crowned a traitor follows klara, the daughter of lucifer, who wants to escape to the fae ruled lands and escape the expectations of her becoming queen of malum. it takes place in a fantasy world filled with different types of creatures and also with a pinch of the modern human world mixed in.

unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get into this story. nothing about the writing or the descriptions stood out which made me never get a true feeling for the atmosphere of the environment. it really wasn't the dark and whimsical atmosphere I was hoping for when reading the synopsis.

the modern and human world aspects of the story really didn't work with me, I know the modern human world and fantasy world mix is a thing people enjoy so it's not an objective fault of the book but it's just something I have a hard time with. in general I found this fantasy world really not for me, there was just so much stuff in it, so many different creatures etc. it was all pretty overwhelming and it personally clashed for me unfortunately.

I kept putting this up and putting it down over and over again without anything truly gripping me so unfortunately I had to dnf it in the end. I definitely don't think it's a bad book and if it sounds like at the kind of thing you would enjoy I would definitely encourage you to pick it up, it just sadly wasn't the kind of thing I enjoy.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!! It was amazing and I am so sad that it is over. The plotline and characters were amazing and I was so sucked into this story. I will be purchasing this book for my library's YA collection.

When I read the synopsis for this book, I thought it sounded amazing and was so excited to get cracking – putting it before the final Raven Boys book in my haste to start reading. A strong female main character, a hellish setting and a perilous journey to safety…and, on top of it, a very good score on Goodreads.

I’m afraid to say though, it didn’t quite meet up to my expectations. I’m aware ARCs often have spelling mistakes or grammatical errors but there were so sentences that were hard to read due to a lack of commas and such. I went through paragraphs that contained the wrong ‘to’ or ‘your’ for example. I kept going though, as I was invested in the idea of the book and wanted to give it a fair review.

I’d like to start with the positives, as there are absolutely positives about this book. I adored the premise. I loved the idea of an heiress of hell trying to run from her throne and can see why people said it was perfect for fans of Sabrina. I’ve seen reviews discussing the modern elements in a negative way but I personally enjoy an author switching it up with a modern fantasy – not all fantasies have to be horses and corsets. Just look at the new Sarah J Maas – modern fantasy definitely has its place and I love seeing more of it on 2020. I liked the idea of the three Queens and the court of hell. I enjoyed that she was a feared warrior and that she had the ability to remove others glamour. I like the twists, and turns, and revelations. She knew what she wanted, and had the swagger of a royal to go with it – I love a confident female MC, especially when the confidence is backed up by amazing skills.

I liked the settings, the idea of hell and Malum were great, I just wish they were explored more. What do they look like, smell like, feel like to the characters? I remember the electric lighting, the thrones and the roses and that’s about it. This could be the authors style and my own preferences, but I would have loved more descriptive language in the book so I knew what characters looked like, what the settings looked like.

One of the main things I felt though whilst reading this book though was that it could have possibly been two, or simply longer. Give us time with the queens in turn, let us learn their personalities. Show us what’s happening rather than using Klara’s voice to constantly tell us – she talks aloud a lot. Like, a lot. Have one book ending when she runs, and the other starting with the wolves. It could have been so meaty and could have had some amazing world building.

This though, ties into the negatives – it was so fast. We moved from one setting and plot point to another without being able to properly digest them. Things are revealed so swiftly and then just moved on from in a way that leaves you feeling lost. There’s sections where it makes you feel like you don’t know who’s who or who to trust which is good as it ties you in with the MC, but there’s also bits where it just ends up feeling a bit flat – which is such a shame when this could have been an amazing setting and structure. The romance(s) felt like they came out of nowhere, though that resolves itself over time I suppose, but again it didn’t feel fleshed out enough to be believable. I found if I couldn’t accidentally gloss over a paragraph as if I missed even a single line of a sentence sometimes I then had no idea what was happening and would have to go back. There would be a brief mention of buzzing and then they’d have already escaped vampire beetles – though you wouldn’t get an explanation of what they are until far later in the book.

I genuinely didn’t guess the ending, but that’s not necessarily positive or negative. It felt like it happened very suddenly and with little satisfaction. I finished the PDF and just kind of went. ‘Ah’ and moved in to edit this review, which I’ve been writing for a few days as I’ve experienced the book.

Rating
This was a hard book to give an overall rating, and it’s a rating I think I’m going to um and ah over for a while yet. Overall, there were aspects of this book that were strong and aspects that weren’t. Originally, I was going to give this book 3 pigeons in the coop; but I hesitated. There were things I enjoyed about it, but the overall experience was a bit lacking. I went through my Goodreads in the end and looked at other things I’d rated a 3…and saw quite a few books that gripped me far more than this one. Due to that, I’ve objectively had to move this down to a 2. Not every book is for everybody and this could be perfect for you – it just wasn’t for me.

I don’t want to be negative about this book but I really think it needed a lot more editing and proofreading before release. I liked the concept and characters but I would have enjoyed it a lot more had it not been so hard to follow because of the odd formatting and writing decisions.

Despite the Heir to Hell and traitorous rulers plot which could come across as quite dark, based on the smuggler leprechaun, mischievous demon, warlock and lycaons mentioned in the description of the book, I had good hopes for this story to be an easy to read romp through magical lands with a host of quirky characters.
I was not expecting the sheer quantity of Biblical, folklore, fairy tale and more recent literary references that the story has, especially for all those things to be brought up in the first three or so chapters. It was somewhat overwhelming way to start the book. Rather than starting with a few pieces of lore and introducing things as the reader goes, it felt like it had all been dumped out at once and I as the reader had to sift through and make sense of it. As the story progressed I got more familiar with the world as the characters travelled across it and encountered the different inhabitants and I enjoyed the ideas of the world building, it just took a very long time for it all to click into place for me.

My main reason for the low rating and what I feel the biggest problem this book had was its editing and format. I think I would have enjoyed the story more had it not been so hard to follow at times because of the formatting, especially when it came to dialogue. A paragraph might start with dialogue from one character followed by some descriptive third person narration and then have some more dialogue, except, while it didn’t say it, this second bit of dialogue would be from a different character. I didn’t understand why the dialogue wasn’t separated out because so often I had no idea who was talking and had to re-read dialogue quite a bit to figure out who was saying what.
There were other formatting and writing issues like first lines of paragraphs not being indented while others were, spelling errors and sentences occasionally slipping into present tense despite the book written in past tense but for me, aside from the dialogue confusion, what made this book hard for me to read was the sheer amount of times that the author uses character names and titles instead of pronouns like she/him/they/it when it is clear who is speaking or doing something. I found it quite jarring and it disturbed the flow of the narrative for me.

If this book got some more proofreading and editing to make it easier to read and follow, I would definitely give it a higher rating.

Crowned a traitor follows our main character Klara, the daughter of lucifer who wants to escape her duties and yearns for freedom.

Things I liked-
First of all the cover grabbed my attention I think it’s gorgeous!
The book was set in a highly imaginative fantasy world which had many different varieties of weird and wonderful creatures that were all described well.
I also liked the way the author wrote her characters. Klara, who despite her upbringing still had kindness in her soul and showed incredible strength, even the three evil queens each had their own unique personalities.

The way the magical abilities our MC has was really well explained and again I think some of the ideas were fantastic.

The only thing that bothered me slightly were the text quotations in the middle of sentences it made it confusing to know who was talking sometimes. A few times the book switched between present and past tense.

Overall this was a fast paced, fun fantasy read with a heroine you want to route for and really imaginative world building. A few small issues with some of the format in writing but I still enjoyed this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had high hopes for this title! The premise sounded promising and unique, if not a little whimsical. But I didn’t realize until I started reading that this novel was going to be so overtly threaded with references to fairytales, modern technology, and Biblical (?) figures.

From the first page, there is an onslaught of information—and it’s all over the place. What is the actual setting of this realm? I got a strong Shrek-universe vibe, and it really threw me.

I don’t want to be overly negative, but I admit this book was not what I was expecting. At all. It would make more sense as a middle grade chapter book than a YA twisted tale (which is what I was hoping for).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

I was just never able to get into this book. The “mortal” items always clashed with me and the fantasy aspects. I never seem to like books with modern day mixed with a lot of fantasy. And there was a lot. So many different types of creatures and places. It’s was neat but often too much. Almost as if everything was just clashes together. Another thing I didn’t like was the format. Perhaps it was just in the e-version or because of the arc, but it always disrupted my flow. There would be dialogue, followed by a sentence, followed by lore dialogue. Back to back in the same paragraph. But the dialogue would be from different characters. It wasn’t clear al the time and often left me lost. Overall, this book just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Crowned A Traitor is a supernatural whirlwind that sweeps you up from the first page, introduces you to some unique, diverse and multi-layered characters. Before spitting you out on the last page, breathless and wanting to read the whole thing again.